'Big name players' fuel football transfer fees rise

The amount of money spent on football transfers has risen sharply in the past six months, says Fifa, although the number of deals has fallen slightly.

The number of transfers fell by 2% in the first six months of 2013, but their total financial value soared by 39%.

The total income from 5,204 transfers around the globe was $928.8m (£612m).

Ernst and Young's Neil Patey said that the rise in costs was fuelled by a number of wealthy clubs that were paying a lot of money on transfer fees for big-name players.